Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Those who acted disgracefully on the streets of our capital city on Saturday were not republicans. They were, in the main, a crowd of thugs, many of them fuelled with drink. Those among them who claimed to be political simply dismissed the national flag and ran riot with criminal elements. Sinn Féin clearly and repeatedly called on people to ignore Saturday's march. Our members and supporters did so.

I do not know to what march in O'Connell Street Deputy Crawford referred, but it was not a Sinn Féin Easter commemoration. Article 40 of the 1937 Constitution enshrines the right of citizens to assemble and to freely express their opinion as fundamental personal rights. There is now a real danger that the events of last Saturday may be used to curtail this right to protest.

The right to march down O'Connell Street is of special significance to Irish political activists. Last Saturday must be seen in perspective. The protest in support of Irish Ferries workers last December and Sinn Féin's rally for Irish unity demonstration in November saw up to 100,000 and 20,000 people, respectively, march peacefully down O'Connell Street. Those who rioted and those who would exploit the events of riots to serve their own interest must not be allowed to undermine the fundamental right of democrats. It is, therefore, correct that the motion to be put before the House reaffirms the right to peaceful protests and demonstrations.

There are questions to be answered by the Minister and Garda management. Was there a request from the officer in charge for additional gardaí to be made available to the area for Saturday's march and was this request turned down? Make no mistake about it, full responsibility lies with those who engaged in violent actions in our capital city.

On behalf of Sinn Féin and all Dubliners, I express my appreciation to Dublin City Council workers who impressively cleaned up the affected streets in a matter of hours. I record Sinn Féin's support for the agreed motion before us.

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